Island



(Model.)

I. GRINNELL.

AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTINGUISHER.

No. 248,831. Patented Oct. 25,1881.

WITNESSES I N V E N TO RI Fredrick 617 27211211,

ATENT Enter-1:.

FREDERICK GRINNELL, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

AUTOMATIC Fl RE-EXTINGUIS HER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 248,831, dated October25, 1881.

Application filed July 22, 1881.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FREDERICK GRINNELL, ofthe city and county of Providence, and State of Rhode Island, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Fire-Extinguishersand I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification.

The object of this invention is to construct an automatic fireextinguisher so that the whole conduit conveying the water or otherfire-extinguishing fluid to the distributer will be opened automaticallyby the action of heat on the retaining material, by which a valve orseal is retained, and can also be opened by hand, so that on thebreaking out of a fire the automatic extinguishers in close proximity tothe fire will be operated automatically, and other automaticfire-extinguishers near some inflammable material may be caused tooperate by hand or automatically, and thus the fire be surrounded by acartoon of extinguishers.

The invention consists in securing the valve, seal, or other device bywhich the outlet is closed, to or with a device that can be liberatedautomatically or by hand, as will be more fully set forth hereinafter.

The invention is applicable to various kinds of automaticfire-extinguishers, two varieties being shown in the drawings.

Figure l is a view of an automatic fire-extin guisher provided with adetachable device, to which the stem of the valve is secured by amaterial fusible at low temperature. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of anautomatic fire-extinguisher in'which the valve is held against theinternal pressure byadevice held by a bayonetjoint to the distributor,to which the valve-stem is secured by a material fusible at a lowtemperature, and provided with an arm, so that by a pivotal rotation ofthe arm the holding sleeve or device is released and the valve opened bythe internal pressure. Fig. 3 is a view, partly in section, of anautomatic fireextinguisher in which the valve is held to its seat whenin use by the internal pressure, and is opened by the release of a rodacted upon by a spring, which strikes the valve with a blow and opensthe same. The spring-pressed rod (Model.)

is held in a sleeve by a fusible solder, the sleeve being secured sothat it can be released by the partial rotation of the sleeve, and forthis purpose is provided with an arm, by which it can be so rotated orheld against rotation. Fig. 4 is a top view of the distributer, showingthe bayonetattachment by which the sleeve is secured. Fig. 5 is an endview of the sleeve, showing three projections, which are constructed toenter the three slots shown in Fig. 4, and which by a partial rotationof the sleeve secure the same. The arm for rotating the sleeve is alsoshown in this figure. Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the bayonetattachment, showing the stops in the annular groove.

In the drawings, referring to Figs. 1 and 2, a is the outlet for thefluid; b,the valve; 0, the sleeve, in which the valve-stem is secured bya material easily affected by heat, (preferably bya solder fusible at alow temperature.) This tube is provided with one or more projections orpins, d d, which enter slots in a groove, so that by partial rotationthe pins or projections d 01 enter the groove and hold the sleeve inplace.

Instead of a groove, inclined ways 6 e e, of considerable pitch, may beused, so that when the tube is partially rotated it will hold the stemor rod as long as the sleeve is prevented from rotating, and as soon asit is released the pressure of the water or a spring will rotate thesleeve and release the same.

f is an arm secured to the sleeve 0. Considering this sleeve as held bya bayonet-joint with a groovcand constructed to hold a valve, a seal, ora cap, then the melting of the solder will release the same by heat, andif a wire is secured to the arm f the sleeve can be partiall y rotatedand the sleeve thus released; and considering the sleeve as held ininclined ways, a wire attached to some fixed point, and united at one ormore points by means of fusible links, would he released bythe action ofheat and the sleeve would be thrown off by the inter nal pressure.

In Fig. 3 the rod 9 is held by being soldered to the sleeve 0, which issecured by a bayonetjoint with either square or inclined ways, andprovided with the arm f, and if released,either directly by heat,indirectly by heat, automatically, or by hand, the spring h will forcethe valve 1) open by a blow and keep it open.

By providing automatic fire-extinguishers with such a detachable device,rooms which it is now almost impossible to protect by automaticfire-extinguishers can be thoroughly protectedas,torinstance,thepicker-room ofacottonmill, in which loose cotton fibers fill most partsof the room and quantities of loose cotton are placed in one or moreparts of the room. If in such a room a number of these improvedautomatic fire-extinguishers are placed and a fire occurs, the whole orany part of them may be at once opened by the operatives by hand, orthey may be so connected that when one link of the connecting-wires ismelted all will be opened automatically, and even if not connected bywires and not opened by hand, they will open as soon as the material bywhich the valve, seal, or cap is held is affected sulficiently to bereleased.

It is obvious to any one versed in the arts that the device by which thevalve, seal, or cap is held in any automatic fireextinguisher may beconnected with a bayonet-joint or other mechanical eqnivalentandarranged tobe released by hand, by the breaking or the separation of awire or cord, without describing such devices.

In Fig. 2 the valve-seat is secured to a flexible disk, so that theinternal pressure will keep the valve tight. This device forms thesubject-matter of a previous application, and

is no part of my present invention.

either by the action of heat or by hand, to cause the automatic openingof the valve.

2. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of anormally-closed valve, a stem subject to the action of a spring undertension, and a locked sleeve, to which the stem is secured by fusiblematerial.

FREDERICK GRINNELL.

Witnesses:

HENRY J. MILLER, WM. L. (Door.

